


Starting Something

by thorbiased



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Blood, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Post Thor:Ragnarok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-10
Updated: 2018-10-10
Packaged: 2019-07-29 05:53:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16258007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thorbiased/pseuds/thorbiased
Summary: Brunnhilde patches Thor up after the fight on Asgard.





	Starting Something

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated! <3

Thor forced a warm smile as he pressed through the crowd of people, now refugees. He should have stayed with them, he knew, but his vision was clouding, and he could feel blood seeping through his armor. Heimdall must have known this or sensed it or something because he rushed behind his king with the urgency of someone that knew their friend was barely conscious. Valkyrie soon trailed behind them after reassuring the Hulk and convincing him to stay behind.

Thor gritted his teeth as Heimdall placed a hand on his shoulder. Even such a gentle touch sent fire through his muscles. “Heimdall,” he whispered, tears in his eyes. “Get me to a room, now.”

“Of course,” Heimdall said. The gatekeeper shifted his grip to under Thor’s arm, holding him up. Thor was grateful because he could barely see straight, and he was sure that if he tried to walk on his own he’d collapse.

They made their way out of the thick cloud of Asgardians and into a shaded corridor. Thor slumped against Heimdall’s chest, his eye slipping shut.

“I’m a bloody good king, aren’t I?” he mumbled as Heimdall lifted him into his arms. Thor felt the cool brush of Valkyrie’s fingers near his eye, and flinched away from her touch. Though earlier he’d been distracted by the explosion of his planet, he could now feel the pain of his battle wounds in full force.

“Where else are you injured?” Valkyrie asked. Heimdall started walking again, taking care not to jostle Thor too much.

“Back,” he said, “shoulders.”

“You can patch him up, right Brunnhilde?” Heimdall said.

Thor’s brows furrowed. He looked over at Brunnhilde, who’d he’d only known as Valkyrie up until now. “That’s your name?”

Brunnhilde shrugged. “We never had introductions, I guess,” she said.

“Oh, then ‘m Thor,” he mumbled, holding a trembling hand up for her to shake. Delirious from blood loss, he stopped short at the sight of red coating his hands. “Heimdall, I’m bleeding.”

“I know,” he said, biting his bottom lip to hold back a laugh. It would be terribly improper for the king’s advisor to laugh at his king. “That’s why I’m carrying you.”

“That’s nice o’you,” he said, before promptly passing out.

* * *

 

Thor woke thirty or so minutes later after Brunnhilde and Heimdall had moved him to what they’d dubbed the “king’s suite”, simply because that’s where they’d plopped their bloody and unconscious king. It had made her a bit uncomfortable, but Brunnhilde had striped Thor out of his shirt and begun to work on cleaning his eye with the medical kit Heimdall had snagged her before heading back to watch the people.

“Look who’s awake,” Brunnhilde teased when she saw that Thor had opened his remaining eye.

“I feel awful,” he groaned, trying to push himself up off the mattress but falling right back down when pain ripped through his shoulders. He cursed, but it didn’t sound too biting all muffled by his pillow.

“Stay still,” she ordered, reaching back to grab a washcloth that had been soaking in warm water behind her. “This is going to sting.” 

Thor gritted his teeth and nodded his head. “Go ahead,” he said, taking a steeling breath. He hissed as the cloth made contact with his feverish skin. “Where’d you...learn to...do this?” he panted.

“My dad was a healer,” she said, her brown eyes far away and melancholy in a long lost memories kind of way. “My mom was a valkyrie, too. He patched her up quite a bit, and taught me everything he knew. I think he wanted me to follow in his footsteps instead of mum’s, but I was a feisty little something, and I wanted to fight.” 

Thor smiled at the mental image of a little Brunnhilde, her cheeks puffed out in stubborn fury, her hair pulled back in a braid. He saw her marching off to training with her mother, dragging an oversized sword behind her back.

“I bet you did,” he murmured. Despite her gruff attitude and appearance, Brunnhilde had a gentle touch. She could’ve been a healer.

 Thor let her work in comfortable silence for a while before curiosity got the better of him, and he asked, “Did Heimdall know your name because he knows everything or because you knew each other?”

Brunnhilde’s hand tightened on her rag, soaking his back in warm water. She started her precise cleaning again, though, when she began to speak. “We knew each other in passing. Before. He’s been your father’s trusted advisor for a very long time.”

“Yes, I suppose,” Thor replied, yawning softly. Brunnhilde’s heart squeezed in her chest, but she didn’t know why. Perhaps it had something to do with the way Thor’s nose scrunched up when he yawned. Like a puppy. “I wanted to thank you.”

“For patching you up?”

“For helping me fight Hela,” he said, giving her a grateful smile, “For coming back to Asgard. I know how hard that must have been.” 

Brunnhilde swallowed thickly. “It felt good to be back. I think I’ve been avoiding my past for a long time now. Too long. It’s time to accept what happened. I’ll never forget what I lost, but...” 

Brunnhilde paused, but not because she needed to take a breath, or she needed time to think of what she’d say next. She paused because what she was about to say scared her, made her heart beat a little faster. Words could be as treacherous as actions.

“It’s time to embrace the future,” she said, running her fingers down Thor’s arm to his hand.

Thor was breathless. He watched her speak with attentive eyes, as if his very life depended on the words that spilled from her lips. Shivers danced under his skin like lightning where she touched him. When her small hand locked in his large one, he was sure his heart skipped a beat. He didn’t dare say anything, fearing he’d break the moment she’d just created.

Brunnhilde shook her head quickly, making her wavy hair bounce. She breathed out slowly through her lips. “Lucky for you,” she breathed, “Hela’s blades aren’t cursed.”

Thor laughed. “Finally a bit of luck.”

Brunnhilde giggled and turned back to the medical kit, which meant letting go of Thor’s hand. He pouted. “But these wounds still need to be stitched up.”

Thor cursed.

“I’m sorry. Want some booze?” she asked, not kidding in the least. She pulled out a (hopefully) sterile needed from the kit and set about threading the thing. 

“Do we have any?” he asked, watching her with fear swimming in his eye. “Because...that looks sharp. And painful.”

“Would you like me to check?” she asked distractedly. Her focus was now on fitting the thread through the eye of the needle.

“No, it’s alright. I’ll be fine,” he assured her, “What’s a little needle when I’m missing a bloody eye?”

Brunnhilde finished threading the needed, then took a breath. “This is going to sting,” she warned, grimacing.

Thor groaned and pressed his face into the pillow. “Just do it,” he said, his voice muffled by the feathers and cloth. “I can handle it.”

When the needle made contact with his skin, he hissed. “Talk about something,” he gritted as she started to stitch up the wound. “Please.”

There was a beat before Brunnhilde spoke. “On Sakaar, the Hulk and I were friends. I didn’t know he could turn into Banner,” she said, “You knew him first as Bruce, but I only knew him as Hulk. That’s weird, for me. It’s going to take some getting used to.”

Thor latched on to her words like they were sacred. “Banner’s—ah!—actually a good man.”

“I’m sure he is,” she said, bobbing her head as she tied off the first round of stitches. “Alright, done with that one. Ready to start again?”

Thor sucked in a breath. “Yeah, yeah. Do it.”

Brunnhilde started again with her stitching. “When I got my valkyrie tattoo, I didn’t squirm near this much,” she chided, having to stop for Thor to sit still.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, “It hurts.”

“I know,” she said, rubbing the skin on his side before grabbing the needle again. “I’m nearly finished. Just a one more...and done.”

“Thank Odin,” he groaned.

Brunnhilde’s hand was hesitant, but it finally came to rest on the back of Thor’s messily cropped hair. Her thumb gently massaged his neck until the tension in his muscles melted. “I need to wrap them, but that won’t hurt.”

 “Don’t stop massaging my neck,” he moaned. “The last time I slept was after the Hulk nearly broke me. And before that, I slept in a cage of bones in the fire realm.”

“Take a nap that isn’t induced by bodily harm,” she joked. Brunnhilde grabbed a roll of bandages and a jar of salve. As gentle as she could, she rubbed it into his skin. “Heimdall’s assumed your duties for now, so if you want to just...sleep in a bed like a normal person...”

Thor yawned, but shook his head. “No, I need to get to work. Now that my father is gone, I must become king.”

Shaking her head, Brunnhilde wrapped Thor’s wounds with bandages. “Uh-uh. You’re not going anywhere, big guy. You just fought the goddess of death.”

“You did too, if I remember correctly,” he argued, “Why don’t you sleep?”

“I’m not going to sleep wit...in the same bed as you,” she stuttered. She focused her attention on his eye socket now, which was still bloody and frankly disgusting. Thor slowly sat up and turned his body around to make it easier for her 

“It would be purely platonic,” he said, trying to push away the pain that pounded in his skull as she washed dried blood off his skin. “On my honor.”

“It’s not that,” she said, which made Thor smile, “I’m not tired.”

Thor hummed. “I grew up with the god of lies. I know how to tell when someone is lying.” 

Brunnhilde sighed. “This is nasty,” she said, taking a gauze from the kit behind her, while holding the rag against Thor’s eye. “She got you good.”

“Yes, she did,” Thor said, a bit glumly. “Do you think I’m still handsome? Even though I’m missing an eye?”

Brunnhilde blushed, but nodded. She didn’t want to talk about how very handsome she thought Thor was. “Don’t worry, your majesty, I’m sure all the maidens will still be falling at your feet.”

Thor laughed as Brunnhilde wrapped his head in bandages. “Oh, yes. The pirate look is very sexy. Perhaps you could help me out? Chop my leg off, and I’ll get a peg leg.”

Brunnhilde chuckled. She tied off his bandages and pressed him back against the mattress. “Alright, pirate,” she said, “time to rest.”

 “Rest with me,” Thor said, taking her hands in his and pulling her down. “Valkyries need naps, too.”

Brunnhilde only groaned once before climbing over him and settling under the blankets. She was far from shy and had no qualms about snuggling up against Thor. She slung one leg over his and pressed her cheek to his bare chest.

“I think you have a fever,” she said. She could feel his heart thumping against her ear, and she knew he must have felt the same way she did. This was all such unfamiliar territory. A road she used to drive with ease, but now was pock marked with pot holes and overgrown with weeds. 

“I might,” he said with an awkward shrug. He gingerly wrapped his arms around her, careful not to pull at his stitches. “You’re cool, though.”

“I’m always cold,” she complained, scooting an inch closer to him. Thor ran his fingers through her hair. “Keep doing that and I might just drool on you.”

“Start massaging my neck and I know I will,” he murmured, letting his eye slip shut. She did, actually, start massaging his neck again, and soon they were both fast asleep.

Later, Heimdall found them like that. Tangled together in each other’s arms, Thor’s head resting against Brunnhilde’s shoulder, Brunnhilde’s lips just brushing against Thor’s collarbone. The gatekeeper sighed before shutting the door on the slumbering Asgardians with a smile. They’d been through enough, he thought, they deserved rest.


End file.
